Repo Man (film)
| writer = Alex Cox | starring = | music = Tito Larriva Steven Hufsteter | cinematography = Robby Müller | editing = Dennis Dolan | distributor = Universal Pictures | released = | runtime = 92 minutes | country = United States | language = English Spanish | budget = $1.5 millionThe Criterion Collection 2013 release booklet, pg. 51 | gross = $3,750,080 Retrieved July 31, 2013 }} Repo Man is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Alex Cox. It was produced by Jonathan Wacks and Peter McCarthy, with executive producer Michael Nesmith, and stars Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez. Repo Man received widespread acclaim, was considered one of the best films of 1984, and has since achieved cult film status. Plot Outside of Goffs, California, in the Mojave Desert, a policeman pulls over a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Dr. J. Frank Parnell (Fox Harris). The policeman opens the trunk, sees a blinding flash of white light, and is instantly vaporized, leaving only his boots behind. Otto Maddox (Emilio Estevez), a young punk rocker living in Los Angeles, is fired from his boring job as a supermarket stock clerk. His girlfriend leaves him for his best friend. Depressed and broke, Otto is wandering the streets when a man named Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) drives up and offers him $25 to drive a car out of the neighborhood. Otto follows Bud in the car to the "Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation" (a small automobile repossession agency), where he learns that the car he drove was being repossessed. He refuses to join Bud as a repossession agent, or "repo man", and goes to his parents' house. He learns that his burned-out, pot-smoking, ex-hippie parents (Jonathan Hugger, Sharon Gregg) have donated the money they promised him for finishing school to a crooked televangelist. He decides to take the repo job. Otto soon learns that, as Bud had told him, "the life of a repo man is always intense." He enjoys the fast living, drug use, car chases, hot-wiring cars, and good pay. His old life is boring by comparison. After repossessing a flashy red Cadillac, Otto sees a girl named Leila (Olivia Barash) running down the street. He gives her a ride to her workplace, the United Fruitcake Outlet ("UFO"...), where they have sex in the backseat. On the way, Leila shows Otto pictures of aliens that she says are in the trunk of a Chevy Malibu. She claims that they are dead but still dangerous because of the radiation that they emit. Meanwhile, Helping Hand and its repo rivals are offered a $20,000 bounty notice for the Malibu. Most assume that the car is drug-related, because the bounty is so far above the actual value of the car. Parnell finally arrives in L.A., but he is unable to meet up with his waiting UFO compatriots because of a team of government agents led by a woman with a metal hand. When he pulls into a gas station, the Rodriguez brothers (competitors of Helping Hand) take the car. They stop for sodas because the car's trunk is so hot. While they are out of the car, a trio of Otto's punk friends, who are on a crime spree (what they call "doing crimes"), steal the Malibu. After they visit a night club, Parnell appears and tricks the punks into opening the trunk, killing one of them and scaring the other two away, allowing him to take the car back. Later, he picks up Otto and drives aimlessly, talking about how a brilliant scientist friend gave himself a lobotomy to deal with his work, then reveals his friend drives a Chevy Malibu before collapsing and dying from radiation exposure. Otto takes the car back to Helping Hand and leaves it in the lot. The car is stolen from the lot, and a chase ensues with all the characters involved. By this time, the car is glowing bright green. Eventually, the car reappears at the Helping Hand lot with Bud behind the wheel, however he ends up being shot and leaves the car. The various groups trying to acquire the car soon show up; government agents, the UFO scientists, and even the televangelist to whom Otto's parents gave his college funds. However, anyone who now approaches it bursts into flames, even those in flame-retardant suits. Only Miller, an eccentric mechanic who works at Helping Hand, is able to approach and enter the car. He slides behind the wheel, apparently impervious to the radiation. He beckons Otto into the Malibu, and Otto accepts eagerly, dismissing Leila's confession of love (at which point she calls him a "shithead" and says "I'm glad I tortured you."). After he settles into the passenger seat, the Malibu lifts straight up into the air. The film closes with the car zooming through the air around downtown LA and then off into the stars. Cast * Harry Dean Stanton as Bud * Emilio Estevez as Otto Maddox * Tracey Walter as Miller * Olivia Barash as Leila * Sy Richardson as Lite * Susan Barnes as Agent Rogersz * Fox Harris as J. Frank Parnell * Tom Finnegan as Oly * Del Zamora as Lagarto Rodriguez * Eddie Velez as Napoleon "Napo" Rodriguez * Zander Schloss as Kevin * Jennifer Balgobin as Debbi * Dick Rude as Duke * Miguel Sandoval as Archie * Vonetta McGee as Marlene * Richard Foronjy as Plettschner * Helen Martin as Mrs. Parks * The Circle Jerks as Nightclub Band Reception Repo Man received widespread praise and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 98% approval rating based on reviews from 45 critics. In 2008, the film was voted by a group of Los Angeles Times writers and editors as the eighth best film set in Los Angeles in the last 25 years, with two criteria: "The movie had to communicate some inherent truth about the L.A. experience, and only one film per director was allowed on the list". Entertainment Weekly ranked the film No. 7 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films". Roger Ebert wrote: }} Awards Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films * Won - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tracey Walter * Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Writing – Alex Cox Boston Society of Film Critics Awards * Won - Best Screenplay Mystfest * Nominated - Best Film American Film Institute Lists * AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs - NominatedAFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs Nominees * AFI's 10 Top 10 - Nominated Science Fiction FilmAFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot Soundtrack | rev2 = | rev2Score = }} The soundtrack features songs by various punk rock bands such as The Plugz, Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Iggy Pop and others. The film score was created by Tito Larriva and Steven Hufsteter of The Plugz. # Iggy Pop - "Repo Man" – 5:12 # Black Flag - "TV Party" – 3:50 # Suicidal Tendencies - "Institutionalized" – 3:49 # Circle Jerks - "Coup d'État" – 1:59 # The Plugz - "El Clavo y la Cruz" – 2:56 # Burning Sensations - "Pablo Picasso" – 4:01 # Fear - "Let's Have a War" – 2:28 # Circle Jerks - "When the Shit Hits the Fan" – 3:11 # The Plugz - "Hombre Secreto (Secret Agent Man)" – 1:46 # Juicy Bananas - "Bad Man" – 4:59 # The Plugz - "Reel Ten" – 3:09 Sequels Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday According to the documentary A Texas Tale of Treason, Cox wrote a sequel to Repo Man which, though filming started, was never finished. Chris Bones saw the script on Cox's website and asked, and received, permission to adapt the script into a graphic novel. The book, Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday, was released in March 2008 by Gestalt Publishing. Repo Chick On December 3, 2008, a sequel was reported to be going into development with the working title Repo Chick. The story would be set against the backdrop of the 2008 recession and the resulting boom in repossession that extends far beyond cars and homes.Slashfilm On February 13, 2009, Cox announced on his personal blog that shooting had finished and the film was in post-production. The bulk of the film was shot in front of a green screen, with backgrounds filmed and composited in during post-production.Alex Cox - BLOG Universal sent Cox a cease-and-desist, since Cox does not possess the rights to do an official sequel, but he ignored it, as his film uses none of the characters from the original. The film premiered on September 8 at the Venice Film Festival. It was released to DVD in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2011, and the following day in North America. References External links * * * * * [http://www.alexcox.com/dir_repoman.htm Repo Man page on Alex Cox website] * [http://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx?FilmID=15809 Repo Man] at Aveleyman.com Category:1984 films Category:1980s comedy films Category:1980s crime films Category:1980s science fiction films Category:American independent films Category:American comedy science fiction films Category:American criminal comedy films Category:American films Category:English-language films Category:Spanish-language films Category:Films directed by Alex Cox Category:Films about drugs Category:Films set in Los Angeles Category:Films shot in Los Angeles Category:Punk films Category:Universal Pictures films Category:Films adapted into comics